Method and apparatus for geometrical determination

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a method and means of determining at least one dimension of the position-motion state of one or more points relative to a number of reference points by performing measurements of angular variations or angular differences, or of functions of such angular variations or angular differences. The position-motion state of said point or points is unknown and unbounded by any &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;a priori&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; information. The apexs of such angular variations or differences are located at the reference points.

United States Patent Hammack [4 1 Sept. 12, 1972 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR Reierellcs Cimd V GEOMETRICAL DETERMINATION UNITED STATES PATENTS [721 Hammad" 3 090 957 5/1963 Albanese et al.....343/1 13 DE Calm 9530 3,181,159" 4/1965 Kramar et al .3137'166 o [22] Filed: April 21, 1969 3,273,152 9/1966 Earp ..343/l08 [21] Appl' Primary Examiner-Benjamin A. Borchelt Related U.S. Application Data Assistant Examiner-Richard E. Berger [60] Division of Ser. N0. 420,623, Dec. 23, 1964, Beckma Pat. No. 3,445,847, and a continuation-in-part Of Ser. NOS. 86,770, Feb. 2, 1961, Ser. N0. [57] ABSTRACT y 1963, abandoned, This invention relates to a method and means of deter- 335,454, 1360- 1963, mining at least one dimension of the position-motion 289,609, June 1963, state of one or more points relative to a number of 3,236,263, and P 30, reference points by performing measurements of an- 1963, 3,270,340- gular variations or angular differences, or of functions of such angular variations or angular differences. The 52 U.S. c1. .343/113 R, 343/106 D, 343/112 R, positiommofion State of said point or points is Int. Cl 343/113 343/ nown and unbounded by any a priori information. 58 Field 6: Search ..343/113 DE, 106 D The Such mums dfferences are located at the reference points.

67 Claims, 18 Drawing Figures DIFF PATENTEU I973 3.691.560 V SHEET OEUF 11 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I B UNIT RADII x Y omsm (STATION) TARGET DIRECTION POINTS ON UNIT SPHERE FIG-9 INVENTOR. CALVIN M. HA MMA CK NWQ (m I PATENTED E 12 2 3.691, 560

SHEET 0k 0F 11 SEA 0 POINTS OF UNKNOWN POSITION Q POINTS OF KNOWN POSITION X,Y UNKNOWN COORDINATES A ,B KNOWN COORDINATES z /(x -A (Y B2)2 /(x A2)2+ (Y B2 cos e INVENTOR.

CALVIN M. HAM/JACK FIG-w NQNQ MW PATENTEU 3.691.560

SHEET USUF 11 PROTRACTOR DIAL INVENTOR.

CALVIN M. HAM/MACK FlG I2 w Q y m PATENTEBsEP 12 I972 SHEET 08 0F 11 M=COS 6 C05 6 ANTENNA S E W T N A F U F Q 0 M D E O R w m H A M W III!" A E R A N D N A T M SIGNS ARE FOR MOTION CCW INVENTOR.

CALVIN M. HA MMA CK BY\/ PATENTEDSEPIZIHY? 3.691.560

SHEET [180F 11 ANTENNAS MIX 3 LOCAL osc 1 {V K 7 I44 144 144 V E AMP L 7 V 143 J SQUARE & v V V [46 I46 146 V DlFF l S/ GATE SIGNAL LIGHTS RESET AND ON INVENTOR.

CALVIN M.HAM/VIA CK Fl BYVTSAQQQW PATENTEDSEP I2 m2 SHEH [188? II REAMP o5 NT/I5O4 ISOO l I I5 GROUND TRANS EQUIP E A STAND FREQ QSC I6 HASE SHIFTER FREQ MULT |5ll LE'AMP I508 MIX DOMETER ISIO FREQ MULT I N VEN TOR.

RECEIVING FQUIP IN'MOVING VEHICLE CALV/N M. HA MMA CK PATENTED 12 I973 3.691.560

SHEET 10 0F 11 UKNOWN PATH OF MOVING VEHICLE XIYI'ZI X AXIS Y AXIS MMAND M ARE MEASURED QUANTITIES AT NTH TATI0N m I'II m:

cosa cos 85 wIx UNKNUWNT} BY SIX EQUATIONS V Q Nah SIX MEASUREMENTS F/G /6 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GEOMETRICAL DETERMINATION CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a divisional application of copending patent application Ser. No. 420,623 filed Dec. 23, 1964, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,445,847, and is a continuation-in-part of copending patent applications Ser. No. 86,770 filed Feb. 2, 1961; Set. No. 278,191, filed May 6, 1963, now abandoned; Ser. No. 335,454, filed Dec. 5, 1963, now U,.S. Pat. No. 3,242,487, issued Mar. 22, 1966; Ser. No. 289,609, filed June 21, 1953, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,263, issued Nov. 15, 1966; and Ser. No. 312,598, filed Sept. 30, 1963, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,270,340, issued Aug. 30, 1966.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION My invention relates to the art of geometrical measurement and the determination therefrom of geometrical elements. There are many applications of my invention and some of these applications will be described in this specification. However, the underlying principles of my invention are distinct from the particular techniques which must be employed in each application of the invention. Furthermore, my invention is distinct from the ends served by the particular embodiments that are employed to illustrate the working principles. For example, my invention may be applied equally well for any of the following purposes;

1. indicating the direction of a transmitter whose position is known from a receiver whose position is otherwise unknown;

2. indicating the direction of a transmitter whose position is otherwise unknown from a receiver whose position is known;

3. indicating the direction from a transmitter whose position is known of a receiver whose position is unknown;

4. indicating the direction from a transmitter whose position is unknown of a receiver whose position is known.

It will be clear that my invention is not concerned with the particular medium through which the waves utilized by my method are propagated. My invention is in no way conditioned by the nature of the particular choice of the wide variety of uses to which it may be put.

My invention may be embodied in systems employing a single station or a multiplicity of stations. Any single station may possess a plurality of apertures if the particular embodiment employs wave phenomenon in the performance of the measurement function. These apertures are employed in the performance of measurement of angles, functions of angles, or variation thereof. In hybrid systems one or more of the apertures may be employed to measure range or variation of range or linear combinations thereof. When there are a plurality of apertures at the stations of the system the geometrical properties of the overall system are not affected by the separation distance of the apertures. The accuracy of a particular type of measurement may be affected by the spacing of the apertures but the essential geometrical characteristics of the system remain unchanged. Thus my invention differs completely from any system in which there is interference established between apertures that must be separated by distances that are appreciable relative to the distances between stations. My invention is distinct from the socalled hyperbolic or Loran type systems. In my invention there is no beating or interference established between the signals received at separate stations. To aid in this delineation, stations are referred to as points in discussing the geometrical aspects of my invention. Whereas separate apertures may or may not be spaceseparated at a given station, this separation, if it exists, is a factor only of the measurement performed and is not a factor in the significant geometrical principle of my invention. The entire measurement equipment at a given station is included in a volume of space of such small diameter as to be negligible relative to the distances between stations, or between stations and other points of the system.

Introduction In my copending applications Ser. Nos. 86,770, 278,191, 298,609, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,263 dated Nov. 15, 1966, 312,598, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,270,340 dated Aug. 30, 1966, and 335,454, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,242,487 dated Mar. 22, 1966, it has been shown that it is possible to determine the position of one or more points relative to the positions of other points by measuring changes or rates of change in the geometrical relationships of the points in question. The principle of determining an instantaneous geometrical condition by measuring only the changes or the rates of change of some of the geometrical properties is far reaching in its practical consequences. It is not necessary to obtain in some manner an initial or preexisting geometrical condition to which the measured changes may be added to obtain the final geometrical condition; but one may obtain both the initial condition, the final condition, and conditions in between by only measuring, or otherwise knowing, the changes occurring in the geometrical condition between the epochs of successive geometrical conditions. Analysis and computation of dynamic relationships of my method are often expressed in terms of static geometry; and indeed, it is sometimes from these static relationships that one gains a first insight into the dynamics of my invention. The static relationships of my methods also apply to essentially static methods in surveying, navigation, and other activities related to geometry.

In my copending application Ser. No. 335 ,454, U.S. Pat. No. 3,242,487, it is shown that it is possible to determine the relative position of several different moving objects by measuring differences in the changes or rates of change in geometrical relationships between the moving objects of unknown position and points whose positions are known.

The various principles of my other inventions are specifically applicable to the determination of position or direction by measuring angles, functions of angles, changes of angles, changes of functions of angles, rates of change of angles, rates of change of functions of angles, the differences of functions of angles, and the differences of angles. Furthermore, these specific embodiments may be combined with other methods to provide improved methods suitable in certain areas. The simultaneous measurement of the change in the direction cosines of waves arriving at a station and the doppler phenomenon relative to such waves is a sample of such combination.

Definitions In this application the words measurement, measured quantity and the like will be reserved for quantities that are in direct proportion to the magnitude of the reaction produced directly on the sensitive measuring device. The word determination is employed to indicate, in addition to measurement, the process of finding the value of an unknown dimension or quantity through the combined processes of measurement and computation, the computation being accomplished by digital or analogue or any other means.

In many of the systems described in this application, simultaneous measurements of a number of quantities are made. Such a group of simultaneous measurements is called a system measurement.

The word reading is reserved for the value of the measured quantity at the termination of the individual measurement, not necessarily at the termination of the measurement sequence. Measurement may be employed to indicate the process resulting in a reading.

The changes and rates of change referred to in this application are changes and rates of change occurring with respect to time, unless otherwise stated.

The words measurement group refer to the totality of all of the measurements required for the complete determination of a position or dimension.

The words reference frame, sometimes just the word frame, in this application denotes a system of orthogonal coordinates relative to which a point or a line, or both, may be specified in such a manner that other lines and other points specified in terms of the same reference frame have a geometrical relationship relative to the first point and the first line and relative to each other that is fully described by the specifications and invariant with the position or motion of the frame. The various lines and points need not exist simultaneously, and in fact, the various lines and points may be several successive positions or orientations of the same line or point.

The practical embodiment of a frame may be the mechanical structure supporting the measuring equipment and mechanical continuations thereof that remain without geometrical change relative to the mechanical supporting structure. Inertial means may provide such a reference frame.

The word bearing is used in this application to designate an angle located at a point of the system, one arm of the angle containing another point of the system, the other arm lying along an axis through the point at which the said angle is located. The point at which the bearing is located is called, in this application, an apex point. The point contained in the arm of the bearing is called, in this application, an arm point. There are also angles in this application not called bearings and which angles contain a different arm point in each arm and which angles are located at apex points.

The words bearing functions are employed in this application to describe some function of the hearing such as a sine or cosine or other transcendental function or linear combinations thereof.

The words distributed system are employed in this application to describe a system in which there are a plurality of points at which there are one or more angles that are measured or whose variations are measured or functions of which are measured or variations of such functions. Points of the said plurality of points are called apex points in this application.

The word variation in this application is employed to mean incremental changes or rates of changes, either of which variations occur with respect to time.

The words a priori are used to designate known information other than that of the dimensions or measurements of the system that may be employed to aid in position bounding or determination or resolution of ambiguities. Such information may concern the characteristics of the motion of a moving object.

The word bound" is position in this application to indicate the partial determination of position or motion, the restriction thereof, or the determination of one or more coordinates of position or motion.

The word hybrid is employed in this application to describe systems in which measurements of ranges or variations of ranges or linear combinations of these ranges or changes of ranges are employed along with simultaneous measurements of angles, changes of angles, functions of angles, or variations of functions of angles to bound, determine, describe or specify the position of a point.

A significant point" or a significant epoch is that point or epoch at or corresponding to the initiation or termination of a measurement of incremental change.

In describing the method of my invention, the word action is employed sometime rather than the word step where it is desired to indicate that the operations are not necessarily performed in time sequence.

THE POSITION-MOTION STATE It is common practice to determine by measurement and computation both the position and motion of a moving object. Frequently the position and motion are interrelated, as by the affect of gravity. It is frequently convenient to refer to the state of the position and motion 'of an object or of a point in space. This state of position and motion of an object, or of a point, generally has a number of dimensions depending upon the character of the motion. The position-motion state of a stationary point in space is generally expressed in three non-zero dimensions. The position-motion state of a stationary object of finite size is generally expressed in six dimensions, three dimensions of location and three dimensions of attitude or angular orientation. Of course, any of the above dimensions may be zero under special circumstances just as the dimensions expressing the motion are zero in thus expressing the position-motion state of a stationary object. The dimensions are of course expressed relative to a particular reference frame having three orthogonal axes although the dimensions need not be expressed as distances along these axes, and the object is said to be stationary with respect to this frame if there is no variation of the point relative to this frame.

If the point or object in space is in motion with respect to the reference frame, there is no upper limit to the number of dimensions that may be comprised in the position-motion state of the particular point or object in space. It is sometimes, but not always, convenient to express the motion dimensions of the position-motion state in terms of the vector components of velocity, acceleration, jerk, and any number of higher time derivatives of rotation and translation. The totality of the dimensions of the position-motion state include both dimensions of motion and dimensions of position. If an object is travelling at constant speed in a straight line relative to a reference frame and is not rotating relative to that frame the general position-motion state of the object may be expressed in six-dimensions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of my invention to determine the direction of propagation of waves with high accuracy.

It is another object of my invention to provide a mechanically motionless means of direction finding and beaconing.

It is another object of my invention to provide a method of determining the direction of propagation of waves in which the accuracy of the system is not dependent upon the establishment and the maintenance of precise phase conditions between the various critical parts of the system.

"It is a further object of my invention to provide a means of determining the direction of propagation of waves that is independent of the medium through which the waves are propagated so long as there exists in the art adequate means for the generation and detection of such waves.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a means of determining the direction of propagation of waves in which the wave propagating medium is coupled to the electrical system through space-separated apertures at at least one of the stations of the system.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a method of determining the direction of propagation of waves that is dependent upon the measurement of change of phase and independent of phase.

It is a further object of my invention to determine position in terms of instantaneous coexisting coordinates of position by measuring only variation of geometric quantities such as angles, or the transcendental functions thereof, and calculating the desired positional data from the measured data.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a method of determining any of the mutual angular relationships desired of a group of points whose relative positions are fixed but are completely unknown and otherwise unknowable, by measuring at each of the points of the group of points variations of angle of an object moving relative to the group of points.

It is an object of my invention to employ the rotation of an array of apertures to secure the relative angular motion between the array and a distant target relative to which it is desired to determine the orientation of the array. Equivalently, one map employ the rotation of the array to determine the direction of the target relative to the array. In connection with the use of such arrays, it is a further object of my invention to perform measurements of variations of direction cosines resulting from this rotation, eliminating the need for directly measuring at any time the actual value of any direction cosine itself.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a means and method for the determination of the attitude of a missile or aircraft by mounting thereon an array of apertures which is caused to tumble or rotate and by performing measurements of the variations of direction cosines relative to the various axes of the array owing to this rotation or tumbling to determine the attitude of the missile or aircraft relative to one or more ground stations.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a method of determining the relative angular relationships among points of a first group of points by measuring at each of said points the angles subtended by a second group of points, the angular relations of the points of neither group of points being otherwise known or knowable.

It is a further object of my invention to determine the angular relationships between the points of a group of points by measuring at some of the points of the group of points the angles between other points of the group of points at which points no measurements are made.

It is another object of my invention to reduce problems of navigation, position finding, surveying and direction finding that are dynamic in character to problems of static geometry, thereby simplifying the processes of analysis and computation.

It is also an object of my invention to employ my methods of static geometry in conjunction with measurements of static geometrical quantities or elements.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a method of determining the shapes of a changing geometrical configuration existing at selected epochs by measuring changes in geometrical properties of the configuration occurring between these epochs, and calculating the desired information from the measured data without reference to or knowledge of preexisting, or subsequently existing, shapes or other geometrical properties or conditions.

It is an object of my invention to achieve improved accuracy in the determination of angles and positions by employing, as fundamental measurements, measurements of changes and differences which can be performed with great accuracy.

It is an object of my invention to provide a method of improved practicality and applicability by eliminating in some applications certain items difficult of achievement and maintenance in the field, including boresighting and including accurate maintenance of phase (timing) between stations.

It is an object of my invention to provide a method of eliminating the problems caused by phase ambiguity in cosine type measurements.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a method of determining the position of a moving object relative to a single station and relative to a set of axes through that station without measuring the distance to said moving object nor the bearing of the moving object relative to the station, but instead, determining these quantities, if they are desired, by coordinate conversion computation from other measurements which, in themselves, are sufficient to define the position of the moving object.

It is a further object of my invention to employ redundant data where needed to improve the accuracy of the determination of position of a point or the variation of the position of a point by statistical methods.

It is a further object of my invention to resolve ambiguous determinations of position or variations of position where these occur owing to geometrical conditions or a plurality of simultaneous targets by performing a redundancy of measurements.

It is a further object of my invention to employ known characteristics of the motion of a moving object in conjunction with determinations of angles, functions of angles or variations thereof to determine or bound the position or variation of position of a point in space.

It is a further object of my invention to employ gyroscopic or laser gyro means mounted on a mechanically pointed angle tracking antenna or other sensor to indicate the rate or magnitude of variation of pointing direction of such angle tracking antenna, thereby avoiding the complexities and difficulties associated with obtaining suitable angular references through the swivels and gimbals of the mount of the antenna or other sensor.

It is a further object of my invention to employ coherent light waves such as can be produced by laser means to measure changes of cosines of bearing angles, thus obtaining great accuracy of the fundamental measurements in certain of the embodiments of my invention.

It .is a further object of my invention to employ interference methods with coherent light wave, acoustical waves, or radio waves to measure changes of cosine of bearing angles.

It is a further object of my invention to combine measurements of angles and/or functions of, or variations of, such angles and/or functions of angles with ranges, or linear combinations of ranges, or variations of such ranges, or variations of linear combinations of ranges, to determine position or variation of position of points in space relative to other points in space.

There is in the measurement art a wide variety of photographic techniques and devices for determining angles and functions of angles, and variations of these quantities, and it is an object of my invention to provide a method of employing these techniques for the bounding or complete determination of the position or variation of position of one or more moving objects, or a plurality of stationary objects.

There are in the radar and optical tracking art wide varieties of self-tracking devices, tracking antennas, tracking theodolites, which devices can be used to measure variation of the angular position of a moving object relative to the station where such means are located. It is an object of my invention to employ such means to determine or bound the position of a moving object.

In some embodiments of my invention the position or variation of position of a point is not completely determined, and it is the object of my invention in these applications to merely bound the position of said point, such as defining the bearing of "a point relative to another point and its associated system of one or more axes.

it is a further object of my invention to specify or describe the position or variation in position of a point in space in terms of a set of measurable quantities,

which measurable quantities need not consist of orthogonal coordinates but constitute a set of coordinates that are not orthogonal, the set of nonorthogonal coordinates so formed completely and uniquely defining the position or variation of position of the point in space. i

The position or variation of position of a point in space may be determined in terms of a set of nonorthogonal coordinates, and it is an object of my invention to provide a method of determining the position or variation of position of such a point in terms of orthogonal coordinates employing the first determined nonorthogonal data.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a method of position determination, direction finding, or other position bounding, which method may be accomplished by employing light waves, acoustical waves, or radio waves.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a method of bounding or determining the position of a moving object wherein a source of coherent light, such as may be achieved by laser means, is placed on the moving object and interference measurement means are provided at one or more points for measuring quantities that constitute the information necessary for said bounding or said determination.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved method of determining the positions of objects in orbit that is simple in its operation and requires a minimum of computer capacity and speed.

Another object of my invention is to provide a system for determining the direction and position of a moving object relative to one or more fixed stations that is incapable of being affected by reflections from fixed objects.

My invention may be employed using any number of measuring stations, depending on the particular degree of position bounding that it is desired to obtain and the amount of other data available, and it is an object of my invention to provide a position bounding method that employs one or more measuring stations which perform simultaneous measurements, said measurements being combined to obtain a bounding of the position of one or more objects.

Position bounding or determination may be performed relative to axes through one or more stations; and it is an object of my invention to provide a method of bounding or determining the position of an object or each of several objects dependent upon measurements of changes or differences of cosines of bearings from these axes or measurements of other such functions of the bearings relative to these axes or of measuring differences or changes of the bearings themselves.

It is a further object of my invention to determine the position of axes relative to which measurements are performed at each of one or more stations by performing measurements of the changes or differences of the bearings relative to these axes of one or more objects, or performing measurements of the changes or differences of the cosines or other functions of the bearings relative to these axes.

It is also an object of my invention to determine or bound the position of one or more objects by performing measurements relative to axes that are known.

It is a further object of my invention to determine or bound the position of one or more objects by performing measurements relative to a plurality of axes through one or more stations.

The method of my invention may be employed for determining or bounding the position of a single moving object or a group of stationary objects without modification, except in the manner of performing the necessary measurements. The geometrical relationships involved are the same relative to the several points in space whose position is to be bounded or determined regardless of whether these points represent the moving object at several points along its path or the simultaneous positions in space of a number of objects. It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a method of position bounding or determination that has wide application for both stationary and moving objects.

Simultaneous measurement of the doppler effect is frequently convenient to perform along with measurements of variation of bearing or other angles, or functions of these angles, and it is a further object of my invention to determine or bound the position of one or more moving objects by performing these measurements simultaneously at one or more points.

It is a further object of my invention to resolve ambiguities that may occur through geometric characteristics of a particular system or the occurrence of more than one object in the field of the system simultaneously by employing other information available besides that which is contained in the system dimensions and the system measurements. Such information may be called a priori information. An obvious example of such use of a priori" information is ruling out determination or bounding that indicate location of the object at an impossible position such as underground.

It is frequently desired to determine the positions of a plurality of points relative to each other using measurements performed at other points or relative to other points. The points whose positions it is desired to determine thus may be points along the path of one object, or along the paths of each of several objects, or they may be the simultaneous positions of several objects. Such points are called arm points elsewhere in this application, and the other points employed for measurement are elsewhere called apex points. It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a method of bounding or determining the positions of a plurality of such arm points relative to each other that is usable in a wide variety of applications with both still and moving objects.

It is frequently desired to determine the positions of a plurality of stationary points relative to each other using measurements performed relative to angles at such points, one or both arms of which angles each include one of a number of other points. The points at which the angles are located and which points it is desired to locate relative to each other are called apex points elsewhere in this application. The other points, which may be moving or fixed, are elsewhere called arm points. It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a method of measurement of the angles, or variation of the angles, or functions of these angles, or functions or variations of functions of such angles, for determining or bounding the positions of the B points relative to each other.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an improved method of determining the motion of one or more moving objects.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an improved method of determining the motion of two or more moving objects relative to each other.

In reflective systems wherein a plurality of moving objects whose position it is desired to determine are illuminated by a common source of waves, there sometimes results ambiguity in the association of the signals of the various reflectors at the several apertures of a multi-aperture receiver. It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a method of grouping the signals from a given reflector together by observing the doppler effect. Signals from each aperture corresponding to a given target will indicate the same doppler shift and are thus separable from the signals of other reflecting objects having different doppler modulation.

It is a further object of my invention to employ doppler tracking filters to narrow the detection spectrum around each signal for improved sensitivity and/or for signal grouping.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing two-aperture geometry;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing two-aperture circuit using phase measuring device;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing two-aperture geometry for difference measurement;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing two-aperture circuit for transmitting, using wave modulation for identification of apertures;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing two-aperture receiving circuit for measuring rate of change of direction cosine using differentiator;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing two-aperture circuit for measuring rate of change of direction cosine using frequency discriminator;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing two-aperture circuit for measuring change of direction cosine using counter;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing two-aperture circuit for measuring the difference of the direction cosines of two different simultaneous wave fronts;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the geometry of direction finding in three-space in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a rotating direction finder;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the geometry of fourstation position determination;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the apparatus for four-station position determination;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a circuit for finding direction using four apertures;

FIG. 13A is a diagram illustrating a circuit for finding increments and rates of change of direction cosines;

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a circuit for finding direction of moving receiver from beacon transmitter;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a circuit for finding direction of moving receiver from beacon transmitter;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the geometry of a method for finding position in three dimensions using three stations; and

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a circuit using three transmitting apertures for finding direction of receiver relative to transmitter axes.

KINDS OF MEASUREMENTS In the use of my invention it is necessary to perform geometrical measurements related to angles. In some instances angles are measured directly, in other instances it is the change of angle that is measured, and in still other instances it is the rate of change of angle that is measured. In other applications of my invention some function of an angle is measured or the change in some function of an angle. In several embodiments it is the change in the cosine of an angle that is measured; and in other embodiments it is the difference in the cosines of two simultaneous angles that is measured.

Embodiments of my invention include, along with measurements of angles and functions of angles and variations thereof, the simultaneous measurement of other phenomenon. One such phenomenon that is particularly suitable for measurement simultaneously with that of change in cosine is the doppler effect. Measurement of the change of range or propagation path distance may be performed using equipment similar to some of the equipment that may be employed for the measurement of the change of cosine of angles. It is a part of my invention to perform such measurements in combination with measurements performed relative to the cosines of angles.

An advantage of my invention in several of its embodiments lies in the simplicity of the instrumentation required for the performance of the necessary measurements. One underlying reason for this simplicity is that changes and differences of quantities are measured rather than the absolute total values of the quantities. The mathematical and geometrical relationships that are part of my invention make the use of such information possible in the determination of the desired information. Consequently, it is of importance to have an understanding of the theoretical and practical relationships between these various types of measurement, measurement of the absolute value of a geometrical quantity, measurement of the difference between two values of such a quantity, measurement of the change in the value, and measurement of the rate of change of the value of such a quantity.

In the practice of my methods, changes and differences are often measured directly rather than being derived indirectly by the performance of two measurements of the absolute or total value of the phenomenon under observation and subtraction to finally achieve the desired data. However, some embodiments of my invention employ the latter process. A device that is capable of making separate successive measurements is usually adaptable, at least in principle, to measuring directly changes or differences in the measured quantity. The method of taking successive measurements to find the difference of conditions existing at successive epochs is limited by the accuracy achievable by a single measurement. The percentage accuracy of the value of the change so determined diminishes rapidly as the magnitudes of the measured quantity at each epoch approach equality. This is the familiar problem of determining the difference of two large quantities. If the measuring device has an error that is proportional to the magnitude of the measured quantity, it is a much more accurate procedure in determining the values of small changes in the quantity to employ the device, if possible, for the direct measurement of the change than it is to measure the large total values separately and then subtract the one measurement from the other. Similarly, to find the difference of two simultaneous quantities of nearly the same magnitude a more accurate determination results by measuring the difference directly, when a measuring device whose error is proportional to the magnitude of the measured quantity is employed. When the error of the measuring device is fixed in magnitude and independent of the magnitude of the quantity measured, there is generally still a reduction of the error achieved by measuring the difference directly since only one measurement is required.

Changes measured over relatively short time intervals are not so subject to errors that may be introduced by drift of the standards employed in the measurements. The true value of my invention in the matter of accuracy is shown specifically in the results of the calculated comparative error analyses and in the demonstration of models.

In some instances the direct measurement of a geometrical quantity is impractical or it is impossible to employ a desired instrument or technique in the performance of such a measurement, whereas, the measurement of changes, differences or rates of change may be entirely practical or within the scope of the instrument or technique that it may be desired for other reasons to employ.

In some instances the direct measurement of the total value of a geometrical quantity may lack accuracy but, because of the nature of the error producing factors, it may be possible to obtain the difference of two such measurements with great accuracy. Such a condition can obtain if the error producing efiect is of the same magnitude in both measurements.

Whereas, taking the difference of two measurements is usually not preferred over the direct measurement of a change or difference, the technique has its practical applications and is not beyond the scope of my invention.

The derivation of changes and differences, either by direct measurement or indirectly by taking the difference of total values, is not restricted to values of the changes or differences that are small compared to the total magnitudes of geometrical quantity being observed. Indeed, it often occurs by reason of the geometry involved that the accuracy of a given system is improved by taking measurements in such a manner that the changes or differences are large; and the accuracies with which such large changes and differences can be found directly and indirectly are of considerable interest.

In addition to the increased accuracy and even the feasibility made possible by the use of these techniques, there is another very practical advantage in the matter of convenience and economy. Some elements necessary to systems performing functions similar to those performed by my system are simply not required in my system. Maintaining exact phase references over considerable distances and bore sighting in the field within the required accuracy and cost limitations are often major stumbling blocks to successful applications of an otherwise sound method. The absence of these items in embodiments of my invention are a great practical advantage.

The methods of my invention enable the determination of the relative positions of each object of a moving group of objects. In this mode of operation the dimensions of the group are small compared to other distances involved, and the position of the group is known. Methods of my invention described elsewhere in this application, conventional radar, or other means may be employed to determine and track the position of the moving group of objects. The measurements performed are those of very small increments of the values of the quantities already discussed in this section. Accordingly, apparatus and methods of measuring very small differences of changes of angles and functions of angles are important in some applications of my invention.

Interference phenomenon is the basis for many methods of measuring the changes of small angles as well as for methods of measuring increments of functions of larger angles and small differences of such increments.

Angular Measurements Instruments for the measurement of angles are common. The words transit, adelade, direction finder, interferometer, theodolite, sextant, protractor, and camera are frequently employed to denote such angle measuring devices.

The measurement of angles, changes of angles, and differences of angles is somewhat different from the measurement of the similar aspects of trigonometric functions in that the differences or changes of angles are other angles with easily seen geometrical significance. The relationship between the two angles and their difference angle is linear. This relationship does not exist between trigonometric functions. The difference between two cosines is not another cosine possessing an obvious geometrical significance. In angular measure it is generally possible to employ the same device either for the measurement of an angle or for the measurement of the difference between two angles or to measure the change of an angle. In some instances, these operations are distinguished only by the words used to describe them. In general, the most significant aspect of the direct measurement of angles performed in the methods that are the subject of this patent application, is the absence at each place of measurement of a standard of direction or axis relative to which such measurements can be performed. Under these conditions two different stations located at known points on the same reference frame are not able to identify any given direction common to both stations. One station would not be able to identify a direction or a coordinate axis that is identifiable by the other station. However, each station would be able to choose a given direction and establish it in such a manner that the direction would remain invariant relative to the position of the other station and invariant relative to any direction that in like manner might be chosen and established at the other station. Separate systems of orthogonal coordinates may be established at each station in an arbitrary fashion. The orientation of these separate coordinate systems relative to each other may be quite unknown but would be known to be invariant by virtue of the relationship of the stations to the common reference frame upon which they are established.

In some embodiments of my invention it is unnecessary for the position of the stations at which angular measurements are made to be known relative to the reference frame, it being only necessary that these positions be invariant relative to the frame.

It is to be emphasized that these relationships, far from being merely the subjects of esoteric exercises, are of importance in the design and fabrication of the instrumentation and in the operational procedures using this instrumentation for the purposes that are the objects of my invention. For instance, the problem of establishing and maintaining instrumentally a common direction among several separate stations on the Earths surface is a costly one, and errors occurring in the process of establishing and maintaining such references are reflected in the increased inaccuracy of a system dependent upon the establishment and maintenance of such references. The elimination of the requirement for the establishment and the maintenance of accurate common direction references at separated stations or points is one of the objects and advantages of some embodiments of my invention. It is in relationship to this absence of a common direction reference that the words change in angle and difference of angles attains its significance.

In some embodiments of my invention the knowledge of one or more directions or axes is common to all of the stations sharing a common reference frame, but there exists an instrumental ignorance of other directions or axes or of some or all of the position coordinates of the station relative to the reference frame. For instance, in one embodiment of my invention the ease with which the vertical axis is determined by stations on the Earths surface is exploited. Measurements of change of the horizontal angles (azimuth) are performed along with direct measurement of the vertical angles (elevation). My invention includes the use of combination arrangements where the measurements of the changes or differences of one coordinate or dimension are combined with measurement of one or more instantaneous values of coordinates or dimensions to determine the desired data. In similar embodiments of my invention, where there is no knowledge of any direction at any station, a local one axis reference system is arbitrarily established at each station. This axis may be called the vertical axis at the station and then measurements are made of the change in the local vertical angle as well as changes in the local horizontal angle. In some systems employing my invention, not only may the coordinates of the station be determined by such measurements, but the orientation of such local reference axes as well may be determined.

For determining positions of individual objects in a small moving group of objects relative to each other, the measurement of the changes of very small angles is of importance. In this mode of my invention the position of the small moving group of objects is continuously known. Furthermore, tracking equipments common in the sonic, radio and optical art are available for painting a device for measuring small angles and the changes thereof relative to an axis parallel to the direction of propagation of the incident waves. Devices and methods making use of interference phenomenon can thus be pointed at the waves arriving from the group of objects and so arranged as to record the changes of very small angles between the individual objects of the group as seen at the observing point, even as the direction of the group from the observing point changes.

Measurement of Changes and Differences of Cosines It is a frequent practice to determine the direction of waves arriving at an equipment position by measuring the cosine of the angle between the direction of propagation and a reference direction rather than by measuring the angle itself. In some instances the inverse cosine is computed from the measurement readings of the cosine value, and in others the dial on the instrument performing the measurement is calibrated in a nonlinear fashion so that it effectively performs the computation in process of indicating the reading. A common method of measuring the cosine of the angle between the direction of wave propagation and a local reference direction is to measure the phase difference between two wave receptors a fixed distance apart. This measured phase difference is directly proportional to the cosine of the angle between the direction of propogation of the incident waves and the direction of a line through the two receptors.

The accuracy of this method of determining the cosine of the angle of the incident waves is dependent upon the accuracy with which the phase angle between waves incident upon two receptors may be measured. lnpractice the accuracy of this phase measurement is often largely dependent upon the phase stability of the electrical system which conducts the signals from the receptors to a common place and performs the actual measurement.

In a preferred embodiment of my invention the direction of propagation of radio waves incident upon two spaced dipole antennas is determined by measuring the change of the phase angle between the signals from the two antennas rather than by measuring the phase angle between these signals. In this manner only the net instrumental phase drift (not phase error) that occurs during the actual measurement is effective in producing error in the final direction determination. At no time is it necessary to determine or be aware of the value of the phase angle between the two signals. As the time interval over which the change in phase angle is measured is shortened, the error of the system owing to instrumental phase drift corresponding to a given value of true phase change is reduced. By taking successive measurements of the change of the phase angle a constant value of instrumental phase drift may be determined and its effect in producing an error in the system eliminated. Other embodiments of my invention also make use of this measurement of the change of the cosine of the angle of incident waves.

Much the same circumstance exists relative to the measurement of the difference of the cosines of the angles between the propagation directions of each of two simultaneous waves incident upon the apparatus and the local direction reference. Another embodiment of my invention uses this circumstance to determine the direction from the apparatus of each of two simultaneous wave sources.

When the measurement at a receiving station of a direction cosine or simply a cosine or difierences or changes or rates of change thereof is discussed in this application relative to the direction of propagation of a wave, the assumption is presumed that the wave front in the vicinity of the station is a perfect plane as it approaches the apparatus performing the measurement. Equivalently, one may say that the distance to the source from the receiving equipment is very much greater than the dimensions of the apparatus performing the measurement. The same assumption applies in the measurement of a cosine or direction cosine relative to a beacon transmitting station or to changes or rates of change or differences of such cosines. When two wave apertures are employed in the measurement of the cosine of the angle between the line joining the apertures and a line joining the apertures to another source or receiver of waves, or in the measurement of changes or differences of such quantities, the distance from the apertures to the other source or receiver is so many times greater than the distance between the apertures that the measurement error owing to the fact that the ratio of these distances is finite is always negligible in the system under discussion.

When cosine measurements are employed relative to a plurality of separate stations, the dimensions of the individual station equipments is very much smaller than the distance between the stations. When a plurality of apertures is employed at any station, the greatest distance between any of these apertures is small compared to the distances to and between the other stations and other sources and receivers in the system.

Specifically in the employment of my invention, it would be impossible for a station employing a plurality of apertures in performing cosine type measurements to share any of these apertures with any other station in the system.

The measurements of changes, rates of change, and differences of cosines employed in some embodiments of my invention are also distinct from the type of measurement sometimes referred to as a Loran or hyperbolic measurement. First, the cone locus corresponding to the cosine is the limiting case of the hyperboloid as the distance between the apertures approaches zero. Second, it is differences, rates of change, or changes of the cosine that are generally measured, rather than the cosine itself. When in certain instances the cosine itself is measured, the first mathematical operation performed in making use of the data is taking the difference between two such measured values of the cosine. In this manner errors or deviations that are constant between the two values are cancelled which, indeed, is a fundamental object of my invention.

In FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing showing the geometrical relationships between two wave apertures 101 and 102, parts of an equipment for performing a measurement, and an incident planar wave. Theta designates the geometrical angle between the direction of wave propagation and the line joining the two apertures. This geometry is representative of a variety of types of measurement and a variety of devices for performing these measurements. A conventional arrangement for finding the cosine of theta is shown in FIG. 2. The two apertures 201 and 202 are connected by transmission lines 203 and 204 to a phase measuring device 205 which 

1. A method of determining the direction of a continuous plane wave incident upon an apparatus, said apparatus containing two apertures sensitive to said wave comprising: Action
 1. Mounting said two apertures on an axis sufficiently close together to assure the validity of the assumption that said wave is planar; Action
 2. Rotating the axis through said apertures about an axis of rotation that is nonparallel with said axis joining said apertures; Action
 3. Measuring increment of a trigonometric function resultant from said rotation by measuring increment of the difference of the phases of the signals from said apertures occurring during said rotation; Action
 4. Concurrently with Action 3 measuring increment of the angular orientation of said aperture axis about said axis of rotation relative to the direction of propagation of said wave, said increment of angular orientation being associated with said increment of the difference of the phases; Action
 5. Determining from the results obtained in Action 3 and Action 4 the direction of propagation of said wave relative to said aperture axis.
 2. A method of determining the direction of a plane wave incident upon an apparatus, said apparatus comprising a reference frame relative to which the variation of the direction of said wave is unknown and relative to which the direction of said wave is to be determined, said apparatus containing at least two apertures sensitive to said wave comprising: Action
 1. MouNting two of said apertures on an axis sufficiently close together to assure the validity of the assumption that said wave is planar; Action
 2. Rotating the axis through said apertures about an axis of rotation that is nonparallel with said axis joining said apertures; Action
 3. Determining the variation of trigonometric function resultant from said rotation by measuring the variation of the difference of the phases of the signals from said apertures occurring during said rotation; Action
 4. Concurrently with Action 3 measuring the variation of the angular orientation of said aperture axis about said axis of rotation relative to the direction of propagation of said wave, said variation of angular orientation of said aperture axis being associated with said variation of the difference of the phases; Action
 5. Concurrently with Action 3 and Action 4 the further and separate action of measuring the angular orientation of the aperture axis about the axis of revolution relative to said reference frame, said angular orientation of the aperture axis associated with the occurrence of said variation of difference of phases; Action
 6. Employing the results obtained in Action 3, Action 4 and Action 5 determining the direction of propagation of said wave relative to said reference frame.
 3. A method of determining the direction of a plane wave as recited in claim 2 further limited by: In Action 3; said variation of a trigonometric function being an increment of a trigonometric function; In Action 4: said variation of the angular orientation being an increment of the angular orientation.
 4. A method of determining the direction of a plane wave as recited in claim 2 further limited by: In Action 3: said variation of a trigonometric function being a rate of change of a trigonometric function; In Action 4: said variation of the angular orientation being a rate of change of the angular orientation.
 5. A method of determining the direction of a plane wave as recited in claim 2 further limited by: In Action 3: performing said measuring during a fractional part of a complete revolution of said aperture axis; In Action 6: determining said direction relative to said fractional part of a complete revolution of said axis.
 6. A method of determining the direction of plane waves incident upon an apparatus comprising a plurality of apertures sensitive to said waves comprising the following actions; Action
 1. Mounting a first pair of said apertures on a first aperture axis sufficiently close together to assure the validity of the assumption that said waves are planar; Action
 2. Mounting a second pair of said apertures on a second aperture axis sufficiently close together to assure the validity of the assumption that said waves are planar, one of which apertures of said second pair of apertures may be common to said first pair of apertures; Action
 3. Mounting said pairs of apertures in an array such that said first aperture axis is nonparallel to said second aperture axis and so that the array may be rotated about an axis of rotation that is nonparallel to two parallel planes, each said plane containing one of said aperture axes and which planes may be coincident; Action
 4. Rotating said array about said axis of rotation; Action
 5. Measuring relative to each of said aperture pairs the variation of a trigonometric function of the bearing of the direction of propagation of said waves relative to said each aperture pair by measuring, relative to each said pair of apertures, the variation of the difference of the phases of the signals from the apertures of each said pair of apertures; Action
 6. Determining from the results obtained in Action 5 a bearing of the direction of wave propagatiOn relative to one of said aperture axes, said last-mentioned bearing lying in a plane perpendicular to said axis of rotation.
 7. A method of determining direction data relative to a plurality of separate simultaneous plane waves incident upon an apparatus comprising a plurality of apertures sensitive to said waves comprising the following actions: Action
 1. Mounting one pair of said apertures on an axis sufficiently close together to assure the validity of the assumption that said waves are planar; Action
 2. Mounting another pair of said apertures on a second axis sufficiently close together to assure the validity of the assumption that said waves are planar, one of which apertures of said second pair of apertures may be common to said first pair of apertures; Action
 3. Mounting said two pairs of apertures in an array such that said first aperture axis is non-parallel to said second aperture axis; Action
 4. Measuring relative to each of said aperture pairs the difference between trigonometric functions of the bearings of the directions of propagation of said waves relative to said each aperture pair by measuring the difference between the difference of the phases of the signals from the apertures of each said pair of apertures; Action
 5. Determining from the results obtained in Action 4 a bearing of the direction of propagation of at least one of said plane waves relative to at least one said aperture axes.
 8. A method as in claim 7 further defined in that said direction data comprises the direction of at least one of said waves.
 9. A method as in claim 7 further defined in that said direction data comprises the angular relationship between two of said plane waves.
 10. A method of determining the direction of plane waves incident upon an apparatus comprising a plurality of apertures sensitive to said waves comprising the following actions; Action
 1. Mounting a first pair of apertures on a first axis sufficiently close together to assure the validity of the assumption that said waves are planar; Action
 2. Mounting a second pair of apertures on a second axis sufficiently close together to assure the validity of the assumption that said waves are planar, one of which apertures of said second pair of apertures may be common to said first pair of apertures; Action
 3. Mounting said first pair of apertures and said second pair of apertures in an array such that said first axis is non-parallel to said second axis and so that the array may be rotated about an axis of rotation that is non-parallel to two parallel planes, each said plane containing one of said aperture axes, and which planes may be coincident; Action
 4. Rotating said array about said axis of rotation; Action
 5. Measuring relative to said first pair of apertures and said second pair of apertures the variation of trigonometric function of the bearing of the direction of propagation of said waves relative to said each aperture pair by measuring the variation of the difference of the phases of the signals from the apertures of each said pair of apertures; Action
 6. Determining from the results of Action 5 the bearing of the direction of propagation of said wave relative to the axis of rotation of said aperture array.
 11. A method as in claim 10 further defined in that said measurements are rate measurements.
 12. A method as in claim 10 further defined in that said measurements are measurements of incremental variations.
 13. A method of determining the direction of a receiving equipment from a transmitting equipment and relative to at least one axis determined by said transmitting equipment, said receiving equipment being sufficiently remote from said transmitting equipment that all wave fronts arriving at said receiver from said transmitter may be regarded for practical purposes as being planar and parallel with each other, compRising the following actions: Action
 1. At said transmitting equipment transmitting waves from a plurality of wave apertures; Action
 2. Arranging said apertures in an array of at least two pairs of apertures, at least one of said pairs of apertures being mounted on a separate axis, which axis is non-parallel to the axis of any other of said aperture pairs, and holding the array of said apertures in fixed form so that the positions of any of said apertures with respect to the rest of said apertures is fixed; Action
 3. Rotating said array of apertures about an axis that is non-parallel with the axis of any of said pairs of apertures; Action
 4. Measuring the variation of a trigonometric function of the bearing of said receiver from said transmitting equipment by measuring the variation of the difference between arrival times of waves arriving at the receiver from each aperture of each of said pairs of apertures; Action
 5. Determining from the results obtained in Action 4 the bearing of said receiver relative to at least one of said axes.
 14. A method of determining the direction of a receiving equipment from a transmitting equipment and relative to at least one axis determined by said transmitting equipment, said receiving equipment being sufficiently remote from said transmitting equipment that all wave fronts arriving at said receiver from said transmitter may be regarded for practical purposes as being planar and parallel with each other, comprising the following actions; Action
 1. At said transmitting equipment transmitting waves from a plurality of waves apertures; Action
 2. Arranging at least three apertures in an array of at least two pairs of apertures, each of said pairs of apertures being mounted on a separate axis, which axis is nonparallel to the axis of any other of said pairs of aperture, and holding the array of apertures in fixed form so that the positions of any of said apertures with respect to the rest of said apertures is fixed; Action
 3. Rotating said array of apertures about an axis that is nonparallel to the axis of any of said pairs of apertures; Action
 4. Measuring the variation of a trigonometric function of the bearing of said receiver from said transmitting equipment by measuring the variation of the difference between arrival times of waves arriving at the receiver from each aperture of each of said pairs of apertures; Action
 5. Determining the angular orientation of said array of apertures relative to a reference frame. Action
 6. Employing the results of Action 4 and Action 5, determining the direction of said receiving apparatus relative to said reference frame.
 15. A method of determining the direction of a propagated plane wave or wave group relative to an array of at least three wave apertures coupled to the propagation environment of said wave, said array of apertures being of sufficiently small dimensions that the assumption of a planar wave at pertinent points of the environment is valid, comprising the following actions: Action
 1. Arranging said apertures in an array of apertures, said array being arranged in at lease two pairs of said apertures, each of said pairs of apertures being mounted on a separate axis, which axis is nonparallel to the axis of any other of said aperture pairs, and holding the array of said apertures in fixed form so that the positions of any of said apertures with respect to the rest of said apertures is fixed; Action
 2. Rotating said array of apertures about an axis that is non-parallel with the axis of any of said pairs of apertures; Action
 3. Measuring the variation of a trigonometric function of the bearing of the direction of propagation of said wave or wave group relative to the axis of each aperture pair by measuring the variation of the difference between the phases of signals, which signals are phase dependent upon said rotation; Action
 4. Determining from the results obtained in Action 3 the direction of propagation of said waves relative to at least one of said axes.
 16. A method of determining the direction of a propagated plane wave or wave group relative to a plurality of wave apertures coupled to the propagation environment of said wave, the distances between said apertures being sufficiently small that the assumption of a planar wave at pertinent points of the environment is valid, comprising the following actions: Action
 1. Arranging in an array at least one pair of said apertures, each pair of apertures being mounted on a separate axis, which axis is nonparallel to the axis of any other of said aperture pairs, and holding the array of said apertures in fixed form so that the positions of any of said apertures with respect to the rest of said apertures is fixed; Action
 2. Rotating said array of apertures about an axis that is non-parallel with the axis of any of said pairs of apertures; Action
 3. Measuring the variation of a trigonometric function of the bearing of the direction of propagation of said wave or wave group relative to the axis of each aperture pair by measuring the variation of the difference between the phases of signals, which signals are phase dependent upon said rotation; Action
 4. Determining the angular orientation of the array relative to a reference frame; Action
 5. Employing the results of Action 3 and Action 4, determining the direction of the propagation of said wave relative to said reference frame.
 17. In an apparatus for determining the at least one dimension of the directional characteristic of a plane wave whose direction is varying, said characteristic comprising direction and variation of direction, said plane wave being incident upon said apparatus, said direction being relative to at least one axis through said apparatus, the combination comprising a first pair of apertures mounted on a first axis and a second pair of apertures mounted on a second axis, separate mixing means connected between the apertures of each pair of said apertures, the output of said mixing means being dependent upon the variation of direction of the incident plane wave, each of said mixing means mixing signals derived from said apertures connected thereto to obtain a difference frequency signal therefrom, separate cycle counting means connected to the output of each of said mixing means counting the cycles of the difference frequency signal derived from said mixing means, means controlling the time during which all of said counting means operate simultaneously, said counting means having means indicating the data determining at least one dimension of said directional characteristic of the incident plane wave.
 18. An apparatus as set forth in claim 17 further characterized in that an aperture of said first pair of apertures is common to said second pair of apertures.
 19. In an apparatus as in claim 18 further defined in that said directional characteristic comprises at least one bearing between the direction of propagation of said wave and an axis of said apparatus.
 20. In an apparatus as in claim 18 further defined in that said directional characteristic comprises the variation of at least one bearing between the direction of propagation of said wave and an axis of said apparatus.
 21. An apparatus as set forth in claim 17 further characterized in that there is provided a third pair of apertures mounted on a third axis, and mixing and counting means connected to said last mentioned apertures, said axes so arranged that direction of the said wave is determined in three-dimensional space.
 22. An apparatus as set forth in claim 21, further characterized in that an aperture of each of said pairs of apertures is common to the other of said pairs of apertures.
 23. In an apparatus for determining at lEast one dimension of the directional characteristic of a plane wave whose direction is varying, said characteristic comprising direction and variation of directions, said plane wave incident upon said apparatus, the combination comprising a first pair of apertures mounted on a first axis and a second pair of apertures mounted on a second axis, said apertures mounted sufficiently close together to insure that the approximation of a plane wave front across the entire group of apertures is valid, separate means sensitive only to variation of the phase difference between the output terminals of the apertures of each pair of said apertures connected thereto, said last mentioned means including means for producing output signals resulting only from the variation of direction of the incident plane wave, means controlling the duration of operation of said last mentioned means, and means associated with said signal producing means indicating data determining at least one dimension of said directional characteristic of the incident plane wave.
 24. In an apparatus as in claim 23 further defined in that said directional characteristic comprises at least one bearing between the direction of propagation of said wave and an axis of said apparatus.
 25. In an apparatus as in claim 23 further defined in that said directional characteristic comprises the variation of at least one bearing between the direction of propagation of said wave and an axis of said apparatus.
 26. An apparatus as set forth in claim 23, further characterized in that an aperture of said first pair of apertures is common to said second pair of apertures.
 27. An apparatus as set forth in claim 23, further characterized in that there is provided a third pair of apertures mounted on a third axis and connected thereto similar sensitive and indicating means, said third axis lying at an angle to parallel planes, each said plane containing one of said axes and which planes may be coincident, said third pair of apertures similarly closely spaced to all other of said apertures, said third axis so arranged that the direction of said wave is determined in three-dimensional space.
 28. An apparatus as set forth in claim 27, further characterized in that an aperture of each of said pairs of apertures is common to the other two of said pairs of apertures.
 29. An apparatus for determining the rate of change of a transcendental function of the angle between the direction of propagation of a plane wave incident on said apparatus, comprising in combination: two separate antenna means held rigidly a fixed distance apart from each other and remote from any point source of said wave, phase measuring means measuring the phase difference between signals separately derived from said two antennas, the signal level of the instantaneous output of said phase measuring means being linearly related to said phase difference, differentiating means connected to said phase sensitive means, signal amplitude measuring means connected to the output of said differentiating means, all of said means being so arranged that the output indication of the said measuring means indicates the rate of change of a transcendental function of the angle between the line between the phase centers of said two antenna means and the direction of propagation of waves impinging upon said antennas.
 30. In a system of apparatus for determining the variation of a trigonometric function of the bearing of a receiver from a transmitter relative to at least one axis through said transmitter, a plurality of transmitting apertures mounted on each of a plurality of axes through said transmitter, means for altering the character of the signal radiated from individual apertures so that the radiation of each aperture may be separately identified at the receiver, means at said receiver determining the variation of the relative times of arrival at said receiver of the signals from the said transmitting apertures as said bearings vary.
 31. An apparatus as set forth in cLaim 30, further characterized in that at least two of said axes of apertures intersect each other and one of said transmitting apertures is located at the point of this intersection.
 32. In a system of apparatus for determining the variation of trigonometric function of the bearing of a receiver from a transmitter relative to an axis through said transmitter, a pair of transmitting apertures mounted on said axis, means transmitting waves from said apertures at frequencies different from each other, plural detecting means at said receiver, each said detecting means separately detecting the signals from a separate one of said transmitting apertures, measuring means connected to said detecting means measuring the variation with respect to time of the relative phase between said detected signals as said bearing varies.
 33. In a system of apparatus as in claim 32, further defined in that said measuring means comprises cycle counting means.
 34. In a system of apparatus as in claim 32 defined in that all of said variations are incremental type variations.
 35. In a system of apparatus as in claim 32 further defined in that said array comprises only two apertures.
 36. In an apparatus for measuring the change of the cosine of the angle between a plane wave incident upon said apparatus and a selected axis, two wave apertures sensitive to said incident wave mounted on said axis, means for supporting said apertures on said axis, mixing means connected between said apertures, cycle counting means connected to said mixing means for counting the cycles of the difference frequency signal from said apertures, and timing means associated with said counting means for regulating the period over which said counting means performs its counting operation.
 37. In an apparatus for finding the direction of plane waves incident upon said apparatus, a plurality of aperture means sensitive to said waves, said apertures forming an array of apertures, means rotating said array relative to a reference frame which reference frame is fixed relative to the direction of propogation of said plane wave, and means connected to said apertures measuring the increment type variation of the differences of the arrival times of identical points on said waves at said apertures, said variations resulting from the rotation of said array.
 38. An apparatus as described in claim 37, further comprising angle measuring means indicating angular orientation of said array relative to said reference frame.
 39. An apparatus as described in claim 37, further comprising means indicating the variation of the angular orientation of said array relative to said reference frame.
 40. In an apparatus for finding the direction of plane waves incident upon said apparatus, a plurality of spaced aperture means sensitive to said waves, said apertures forming an array of apertures, said direction being found relative to said array, measuring means connected to said apertures measuring the variation of difference of arrival times of identical points on said waves at said apertures, said variations resulting from the rotating of said array.
 41. In an apparatus as recited in claim 40, further comprising: means for determining the angular variation of said array relative to the direction of said waves occurring during said variation of differences.
 42. In an apparatus as recited in claim 40 further defined in that said apparatus is an omnidirectional apparatus.
 43. In an apparatus as recited in claim 40 further defined in that said variation of differences of arrival times is change of differences of arrival times.
 44. In an apparatus as recited in claim 43 further comprising: means for determining the angular change of said array relative to the direction of said waves occurring during said change of differences.
 45. In an apparatus for finding the direction of plane waves incident upon said apparatus, a plurality of aperture means sensitive to said waves mounted upon a plurality of separate aperture axes, means For rotating said axes, means connected to said apertures measuring the variation of the differences of the arrival times of identical points on said waves at pairs of said apertures, said variations resulting from said rotating.
 46. In an apparatus for beaconing and attitude indication, a multidimensional array of wave transmitting apertures; means for energizing said apertures, means for modifying the signals transmitted from at least some of said apertures so that said signals may be separately identified, and means for rotating said array.
 47. An apparatus as described in claim 46, further comprising means for indicating the angular orientation of said array relative to a known reference frame.
 48. In a system for beaconing and navigating, a beaconing apparatus located at a known point on a known reference frame, a receiving apparatus located in a navigating craft, said beaconing apparatus comprising at least three wave transmitting apertures disposed in at least two dimensions, means for energizing said apertures, means modifying the signals transmitted from at least some of said apertures so that said signals may be separately identified, means rotating said apertures about a selected point, said receiving apparatus comprising means detecting the signals radiated from said apertures, and means connected to said detecting means determining variations of the differences of the times of arrival at said detecting means of waves transmitted from said apertures, which variations are resultant from the rotation of said array.
 49. An omnidirectional system for determining at least one dimension of the otherwise unknown varying directional relationship between apparatus at a first point and apparatus at a second point remote from said first point said relationship comprising unknown angular motion, said system comprising elements as follows: Element
 1. At one of said points wave generating apparatus and at the other of said points wave detecting apparatus responsive to waves generated by said wave generating apparatus; Element
 2. Connected to the apparatus at said first point an array of apertures functional with respect to the waves generated by said wave generating apparatus, the maximum dimension of said array being made negligible relative to the distance between said points; Element
 3. Connected to said detecting apparatus measuring apparatus receiving signals from said detecting apparatus and measuring the variation of at least one trignometric function of the direction of said second point relative to said array and insensitive to any particular direction of said second point relative to said array; Element
 4. Connected to said measuring apparatus recited in Element 3 and receiving information therefrom third apparatus for determining from said information the direction of said second point relative to said array.
 50. A system as recited in claim 49 further defined in that said variation is an incremental variation.
 51. A system as recited in claim 50 further defined in that said measuring apparatus comprises cycle counting means.
 52. A system as recited in claim 49 further defined in that said array is a multidimensional array comprising at least three apertures.
 53. A system as recited in claim 49 further defined in said array comprising at least three apertures and at least two aperture axes.
 54. A system as recited in claim 49 for determining the directional relationship between apparatus at a first point and apparatus at a second point remote from said first point further defined in that apparatus at said first point is wave receiving apparatus and apparatus at said second point is wave transmitting apparatus.
 55. A system as recited in claim 49 for determining the directional relationship between apparatus at a first point and apparatus at a second point remote from said first point further defined in that apparatus at said first point is wave transmitting apparatus and apparatus at said second point is wave receiving apparatus.
 56. A system as recited in claim 49 further comprising: means for rotating said array.
 57. An omnidirectional method of determining at least one dimension of the otherwise unknown directional relationship between first apparatus at a first point and second apparatus at a second point remote from said first point, said method comprising the following elements: Element
 1. Establishing at the first one of said points an array of apertures comprising at least two axes of apertures functional with respect to waves transmitted in at least one direction between said first point and said second point, the maximum dimension of said array being negligible relative to the distance between said points; Element
 2. Using signals from said array, measuring the variation of at least one trigonometric function of the angle between said array and said waves and non-responsive to any particular direction of said second point relative to said array; Element
 3. By processing said signals determining at least one dimension of the directional relationship between said second point and said array located at said first point.
 58. A method as recited in claim 57 further defined in that said variation is an incremental type variation.
 59. A method as recited in claim 58 further defined in Element 2 by using cycle counting means in measuring said incremental type variation.
 60. A method as recited in claim 57 further defined in using a multidimensional array comprising at least three apertures.
 61. A method as recited in claim 57 further defined in using an array comprising at least three apertures and at least two aperture axes.
 62. The method as recited in claim 57 wherein apparatus at said first point is wave receiving apparatus and apparatus at said second point is wave transmitting apparatus.
 63. The method as recited in claim 57 wherein the apparatus at said first point is wave transmitting apparatus and the apparatus at said second point is wave receiving apparatus.
 64. The method as recited in claim 57 wherein the geographical position of said first point is known and the geographical position of said second point is unknown.
 65. The method as recited in claim 57 wherein the geographical position of said second point is known and the geographical position of said first point is unknown.
 66. The method as recited in claim 57 further comprising rotating said array to achieve said angular motion.
 67. The method as recited in claim 57 further comprising: Element
 4. Rotating said array, Element
 5. Measuring precisely the direction of said array relative to a reference frame. Element
 6. Using the information resulting from Element 3 and Element 5 determining the direction of said second point from said first point relative to said reference frame. 